In recent years, many attempts have been made to construct buildings from a plurality of modular units. Examples of some of the proposed constructions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,698,973 of Jan. 11, 1955; 3,201,907 of Aug. 24, 1965; 3,292,327 of Dec. 20, 1966; 3,377,755 of Apr. 16, 1968; 3,510,997 of May 12, 1970; and 3,514,910 of June 2, 1970. Other patents on modular building constructions exist, but those above mentioned are fairly typical.
The constructions shown in these patents have not gone into any widespread use. In spite of the fact that there appears to be a great demand for a comparatively economical way of constructing habitable buildings, the defects and disadvantages of the prior patented constructions have been so great that they have not become popular.
An object of the present invention is to provide modular units of a more practical and economically feasible design, overcoming the disadvantages of the prior art.
Another object is the provision of modular housing units so designed as to be light enough and particularly to have sufficient strength and rigidity for safe, speedy, and practical handling both in transportation and in erection at the final building site.
Still another object of the invention is the provision of a modular construction so designed that plumbing fixtures, cooking equipment, and other major appliances may, if desired, be installed at the factory where the modular unit is made, in such a way that they may be safely transported as part of the modular unit during the trip from the factory to the erection site, with no appreciable danger to the pre-installed equipment or appliances, and will require only a minimum of simple hook-up operations when the modular units are erected.
A further object is the provision of modular units so designed that essentially the same units may be used in constructing a variety of habitable buildings, such for example as apartment houses of multiple stories containing apartments of various sizes, hotels or motels of single or multiple stories, economy type apartments for elderly people, town houses, dormitories, hospitals, nursing homes, and the like, the same basic modular unit design being used for the majority of the units in each of the above mentioned types of buildings, with minor variations depending upon which type of building is to be constructed.
A still further object is the provision of a modular housing unit so designed as to have relatively great strength and rigidity in proportion to its floor area and its cubic content.